


Heavenly☆Star Pretty Cure

by PapilioAgeha



Category: Original Work, プリキュア | PreCure | Pretty Cure Series
Genre: Family, Friendship, Gen, Magical Girls
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-16
Updated: 2019-09-16
Packaged: 2020-10-20 00:00:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20665970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PapilioAgeha/pseuds/PapilioAgeha
Summary: Uranometria, the World of Stars, was once a peaceful place. The Star Deities lived together in harmony under the leadership of Council of the Zodiacs. However, it all changed when a prominent figure, Virgo suddenly vanished. Everyone looked for her but they could not find any lead to her whereabouts. At the same time, bad rumors started spreading and disturbed the harmony. Trust was lost; bonds were severed. Uranometria eventually fell into crisis, and in consequence, the stars in human world started losing their radiance.18 years after Virgo's disappearance, the Council suddenly sensed a strong power similar to hers coming from Geometria, the human world. Leo, leader of the Council, then sent out his son Regulus to the human world to look into it. Much to everyone's surprise, what they found in the human world wasn't Virgo herself but a young girl named Hoshigawa Otome who bore a striking resemblance to her.





	Heavenly☆Star Pretty Cure

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my debut series in AO3! This is my second Precure fanseries in general. Enjoy!  
English is not my first language so I apologize in advance for any typo / weird wording / grammatical mistakes.

**Chapter 1**

**The Maiden who Posses a Starshine ☆ Birth of a Pretty Cure**

☆☆☆

A girl stood on the top of a hill. The night wind blew her shoulder-length gray hair. She quivered a bit from the chill, but the cold air was not enough to make her move from where she stood. Right now she was fully immersed with the telescope in front of her.

Countless specks of light spread before her eyes. Some light stood out brightly, some others were barely visible. Imaginary lines connected those lights one to another forming constellation.

_ Find the North Star and then Big Dipper, then make an arc down from the bottom of the dipper to Arcturus... And then extend the line down... _

Hoshigawa Otome sighed as she looked away from the telescope. She picked up her notebook and a portable lamp from the ground, just right next to the tripod. Her brows furrowed as she tried to read the writing under the dim light. She read it over and over while muttering some words like _ Big Dipper _ and _ arc to Arcturus _. After a while, she looked up from the book and stared at the evening sky.

She could not find _ it _; her favorite star. She was sure she followed the guide perfectly. She had done it countless times before, but lately she could not find that certain star anymore.

“How is it going, Dear?”

A man in his thirty approached the girl, with a cup in one hand and a blanket in another. He handed the warm drink to her and then moved around her to put the blanket over her shoulder.

“Still not good,” Otome said sadly as she stared at the cup in her hands. White steam poofed up as she lightly blew on the liquid’s surface. She inhaled the scent and brought the drink up to her lips. Sweet and warm; it was her all time favorite hot milk with honey.

“I see. That’s too bad,” the man said as looked up to the starry sky. He raised a hand up to the air and moved it around following the guide, but he could not find that star either. “For some unknown reason, it’s been harder to see the stars in recent years.”

She stopped drinking half-way and put down the cup. Her thumbs fiddled on the rim as she whined, “I was hoping we could see it together again like we used to with Mom.”

He turned to her and smiled sadly at the girl’s expression. He lowered his hand and patted her head gently. “Now, now. We should wrap this up for now and try it again on the weekend. It’s getting very late. You still have school tomorrow, right?”

She looked dissatisfied with his suggestion, but nevertheless nodded in agreement, “Okay...”

“That’s my girl.” He patted her head one more time before he turned away to the telescope.

“Oh- I can clean up by myself,” She quickly cut in as he was about to lift the equipment.

The man looked at her, then to the telescope and back to her again. “Alright. Just be careful, it’s pretty heavy,” he reminded her.

“Understood,” she nodded affirmatively.

He chuckled as he took the cup from her hands. “I’ll take care of this one then.”

“Thanks, Dad!” She waved at him as he walked away toward a small cabin that was located around 10 meters away from where they were.

As her dad disappeared behind the sliding door, she turned on her heels and faced the telescope once again. Another cold breeze came through and made her quiver. She mentally noted on how it was getting a lot chilly lately and readjusted the blanket on her shoulders so that it wouldn’t slip when she moved around. She carefully unscrewed the bolts that connected the telescope to the tripod. Once they were apart, she processed to place the telescope gently inside the bag and move on to the tripod. She unsnapped the legs one by one so that it would be small enough to fit in the bag.

But then, she accidentally hit one of the legs onto the portable lamp, which caused the lamp to roll off the slope on the opposite direction from the cabin.

She gasped as she got up and without a second thought, hurriedly run after it. She ran down the hill following the rolling light… A reckless act that she would regret very soon.

The lamp tumbled down the hill, gaining more speed as it rolled along the slope. At some point it crashed on a small rock, flew up in the air from the impact and dived into a small pond. The light flickered underwater for several seconds and then disappeared..

“Oh no,” she suddenly realized that she was now standing in total darkness. Her eyes could barely catch on anything as it was too dark. _ How far had she gone? _

She looked around desperately, trying to find some source of light, but there was no other house or street lamp around. She sighed realizing it was a futile attempt. The hill was pretty much uninhabited. The only building that was built there was her father’s research cabin, and it was on the other side of the hill.

She took a deep breath, trying to calm down.

‘It’s gonna be alright,’ she tried to reassure herself. She came from the top of the hill so it should not be too hard to retrace her track. She just needed to head toward the higher ground. She would surely find her way back once her eyes got adjusted with the darkness. ‘_ It’s okay. It’s gonna be alright _.’ She kept reminding herself not to panic. Indeed it was dark right now, but she had been playing around that area since she was small. It was still the same Yozora Hill she had always knew.

She looked up and gazed at the sky. Tonight was a new moon, so she couldn’t rely on moonlight. The stars were still there though! They might not be as bright as the moon but their light still reached down here.

She kept looking at the sky and somehow, it felt more brighter now. Was it just her imagination? Or was it simply because her eyes just got more adjusted with the darkness? There was one star that slowly but surely getting brighter and brighter. It was as if it had been getting closer to earth. To _ her _.

No, it wasn’t just her imagination. It did got brighter by seconds.

“Shooting star? No, _ meteor _???”

She gasped as the said _ star _ was now heading toward her in terrifying speed.

Oh no, what if she got struck by that meteor?

She would die, for sure.

She had read somewhere that a meteor impact could range up to several kilometers. Running away from it would be impossible when it was already _ this _ close.

She shut her eyes tight as the light became blinding. She put her hands together, bracing for impact.

And then…. nothing happened. She felt some strong gust of wind, but that was it.

Puzzled, slowly opened her eyes and looked around. There was no sign of impact, or fire. There was no space rock either.

However, there was… a boy.

There, several feet away from her stood a boy. He was perhaps just a little bit higher than her. His skin glowed, and his golden hair shone reflecting the starlight. He was wearing white clothes that looked like something she had seen in paintings; like how Roman or Greek gods would be depicted in stories.

She gaped at the sight of this mysterious, almost mythical boy. What on earth was he? When did he get there?

The boy looked back at her, his amber eyes locked with hers. He opened his mouth, about to say something-

_ “Otome! OTOME!” _

A loud shout broke the silence. It wasn’t the boy. It was a voice she knew.

“Dad?” The said girl frantically looked around to search for the source of that familiar voice.

“Otome! Oh my God, where have you been?” A masculine figure carrying a flashlight came rushing toward her. It was her father.

“I- oh- I was looking for my lamp-” She was caught up in a daze that she had completely forgotten her own situation. It just dawned on her when she saw his worried face. 

“I went back because you were taking so long but couldn’t find you anywhere. Don’t you realize how dangerous it is to wander off on your own at this hour?” He scolded her. 

“I- I’m sorry.” She looked down on her feet.

He huffed, but then his expression softened. He cupped her cheeks. “I’m glad you are okay. Let’s go back to the cabin now, shall we?”

“Okay.” She nodded.

He took her hand and turned on his heel. She was about to follow his lead when she remembered about the mysterious boy. “Dad, wait, what about him?” She looked back, but that boy was nowhere to be seen.

“Who?” Her dad asked as he looked around. He did not see any sign of human being beside them.

“When you found me earlier, wasn’t there a boy over there?” She tried to explain as she pointed at the empty spot where the boy had been earlier.

Her dad crooked his head in puzzlement. “No, there wasn’t anybody else. It’s just you.”

“But he was really there. When the meteor came down.”

“What are you talking about?” Her father asked worriedly. He placed his hand on her forehead to check in case she was having fever. “Did you hit your head on something?”

She shook her head in frustration. She was so sure she had seen that boy. And that meteor too. There was no way her father hadn’t seen the light. Was that just her imagination? Was she just seeing things? 

“Now, now. You are probably too tired from running around,” said her father, breaking her train of thought. “Let’s just get back and rest.”

“Okay,” she replied in defeat. He was right. She still had to wake up early tomorrow. She had to go to school and more importantly, tomorrow was her birthday.

☆☆☆

It was a sea of stars.

The girl found herself floating in space.

The star twinkled around her.

It was so beautiful.

However the lights slowly got weaker. They vanished one by one, as if swallowed by darkness.

She felt fear creeping her whole body.

It got dark. She could not see anything. She suddenly felt like she was falling. Deeper and deeper into a bottomless abyss.

She reached out her hand, shouting for help, but she couldn’t even hear her own voice.

“-!”

☆☆☆

Otome abruptly opened her eyes. Her right hand was hanging up in the air.

She gasped for air. Her heart was beating fast. It was as if she had just run with all her might. She just woke up yet she felt tired already.

Nightmare?

She sat up, looking around while still blinking heavily. It wasn’t her bedroom.

“Oh, right. I’m sleeping over at Dad’s research place,” she mumbled, half yawning. She started recalling the event last night. The stargazing, how she accidentally had strayed away from their place, the mysterious light, that boy that looked like he had came from painting… was that bizarre encounter also dream?

Pushing away her sleepiness, she got up from the bed and went to the bathroom. After brushing up and changing her pajama into school uniform, she went downstairs to greet her father.

“Good morning,” she said.

Her father looked up from his laptop and beamed a bright smile. “Good morning, dear.” 

His smile was infections that a smile also bloomed on Otome’s face. She instantly forgot about the nightmare and the bad thoughts.

She walked toward the small table where he was sitting at and saw breakfast was ready. Some toasted bread with eggs and tuna spread. A glass of milk for her and back coffee for him.

“You stayed up pretty late last night so I figure I should be the one who make the breakfast. I can’t make anything fancy, but I can guarantee they’re delicious! Simplicity is best after all!” he said proudly.

“Oh Dad, they look amazing!” she replied as she sat down next to him. It was usually her task to prepare breakfast for the two of them, but this morning her father had taken the initiative to take over the chore instead. He said it was because she had stayed up late, but he himself should have been staying up late as well due to his work. He probably hadn’t even slept for the whole night.

Brimming with gratefulness, Otome put together her hands and said, “_ Itadakimasu _.” Her father followed the suit and they started eating.

They finished the food after around fifteen minutes. Otome was about to get up to clean up the dish when the father stopped her.

“It’s fine. I’ll do them later,” he said.

“But-”

“More importantly, I have something for you,” he stood up and took a small box it from the shelf. He gazed at it lovingly for a while before he kneeled down in front of her and handed it to her. “Happy fifteenth birthday, Otome.”

“Thank you, Dad,” she took the box and carefully opened it. It was a necklace with beautiful star-shaped pendant. The pendant was made out of gold, with another star shaped hole-like carving in the middle of it which made it looked like a star within a star. “It’s beautiful,” she gasped as she took it out of the box.

He smiled, seemingly satisfied with her reaction. He gently took the necklace from her hand and put it around her neck.

“This is a memento from your mother. She said to give it to you when you grow up,” he explained.

She touched the pendant on her chest then looked at a photo frame that was placed next to where the box had been kept. In the photo were a younger version of her father, holding her as a baby, with a beautiful woman with wavy silver long hair. 

“Mom… thank you,” she muttered. “And Dad too. Thank you so much!” She quickly added as she turned back to face her father. “How do I look? Does this suit me?” she asked.

“Of course! It suits you as much as it suits your mother.” He said as he got up, then ruffles her hair. “You’ll be always our baby though, no matter how old you are.”

“Geez, Dad…” she pouted as she tried to tidy up her now messy hair.

Her dad chuckled. “Now, now, you should get going. You don’t want to be late on your own birthday, right?” 

“No way!” she gazed at the clock and indeed it was already time for her to go. She quickly gathered her belongings and walked toward the entrance door. “Thank you for the food. See you later!”

“Have a safe trip,” her father replied just before she closed the door behind her. He stared at the door and smiled sadly.

“Really, though. If only I could show you how much our Otome has grown up… _ Kirari _.”

☆☆☆

  
“O-to-me!”

Otome stopped on her track as another girl wearing the same uniform jumped onto her from behind and clinged her arms around Otome’s neck.

“Happy birthday!!” The girl beamed. Her side ponytail brushed against Otome’s cheeks.

“Niko!” Otome called out. She was well aware of her best friend’s antics, but sometimes it still caught her off-guard, especially when Niko just glomped onto her out of nowhere.

Niko released her deadly grip and walked around Otome so that she’s now in front of the latter. “Let’s go to my shop afterschool! I’ll treat you our special Super-Sweet-Rainbow-Fruits-Jumbo-Parfait-A-la-Mode!”

“Um- Okay,” Otome replied uncertainty while an image of giant parfait came into her mind. It scared her a bit.

Niko puffed her cheeks. “Eeeehhhh? What’s with that reaction? Could it be you already have a plan? With a_ boyfriend _???”

“Geez, you _ know _ I don’t have one,” Otome quickly refuted. “Sure, I’d love to hang out with you afterschool.”

“What about Mr. Haruto? You’re not going out together?” By _ Mr. Haruto, _Niko meant Otome’s father, Hoshigawa Haruto.

Otome shook her head, “Nah, he’s busy with his research. We already had advance birthday dinner party last night so I’m free today.”

“Ohh… I see he’s as busy as ever,” said Niko. “An astronomer, huh? That’s such as dreamy job though! It’s not something we come across everyday. Not like a regular salaryman or shopkeeper. Mr. Haruto is also such a good looking man too. You’re so lucky to have a dad like that. Compared to my dad…. Ugh.” Niko grimaced as the image of her own father came into her mind. The bitter expression didn’t last long though. It quickly turned into silly giggles as she continued her daydreaming. She cupped her blushing cheeks and trailed off, “Aah.. if only Mr. Haruto was 20 years younger~~ If only there was someone as cool as him around our age~~” 

‘If he was 20 years younger he wouldn’t be my dad though.’ Otome mentally noted. She decided not to say anything as she would rather drop the topic there.

“Hmm? What’s that?” A loud noises snapped Niko out of her dreamy world. The two friends turned toward the source of the commotion. It seemed to come from the shopping district that was located just a block ahead from their location. 

“!!” Niko’s face brightened up as something popped in her mind. “Could it be... a famous person in town? A model? An idol???”

“At this hour?” Otome raised a brow. It’s only 8 o’clock in the morning. She didn’t think some kind of celebrity would visit their town that early, not to mention it’s just a small town with barely any attraction.

“Don’t you know? The camera usually starts rolling early in the morning so that they can get good sunlight,” Niko explained as she grabbed Otome’s hand and ran toward the shopping district.

“What about the school?” Otome tried to pull away but Niko’s grip was quite strong she was afraid they would fall down if she also used a lot of force.

“It’s fine! It’s fine! We still have enough time!” Niko said as she waved her free hand around nonchalantly.

Led by Niko, the two of them soon reached the shopping district. Otome got an unsettling feeling as soon as they stepped inside. It was… to quiet.

“Hey, Niko… Why there isn’t anyone here? Don’t you think it’s strange?” Otome looked around worriedly.

“They’re probably just clearing the area for the shooting, You know, something like reserving the whole area.” Niko replied sharing her knowledge proudly. “Oh! I see some people!”

Otome quickly followed where Niko was pointing. There she saw several people lying on the ground not around three or four stores away from them. Some school girls, salarymen in suits, shop attendants, middle-aged women… 

“O-ho, interesting. I wonder what theme they’re using. Post-apocalyptic?”

“Niko… I don’t think they’re acting…” Otome whispered in a low voice as she tugged Niko’s hand strongly to prevent her from going farther.. Something within her told her that this was not right, it screamed at her to get away from that place as soon as possible.

Just then she heard something. It was not a person's voice. Nor it was anything like the commotion they heard earlier. It was... a song? A kind of string musical instrument, like a harp. The melody was beautiful, like a lullaby, yet for some reason it felt cold and emotionless.

Suddenly she felt her right hand was pulled down strongly, almost causing her to fall over. When she looked over, Niko was on the ground, unconscious.

“Ni- Niko! What’s wrong? Hey?? Hang in there!” She crouched down and frantically shook her friend. However, no matter how hard she yelled, her friend was not waking up. “Ni-”

She froze as she heard something else. This time it was footsteps.

Clack. Clack. Clack.

The sounds of wooden heels hitting against the concrete ground.

A woman figure appeared before her. She had unnatural light pink hair and donned gypsy-like costumes. She facial feature was beautiful, yet terrifying. Her scleras were black; her whole body was covered by tattoos up to her jaws.

“This much of energy in a short time. I guess it’s not half bad for such a rural town.” the pink-haired lady muttered. She was looking at a crystal ball filled with swirling smoke in one of her hand, while her other hand was holding a golden lyre.

The woman did not seem to have noticed Otome’s presence yet, and it caused an inner turmoil within her. Should she just ran as fast as she could and asked for help? Perhaps calling the police? What about Niko though? She was not strong enough to carry Niko by herself, but she could not leave her friend behind either. What if something happened to Niko? She would not be able to forgive herself if something bad ever happened to Niko while she ran away by herself.

‘Someone… Anyone… please help us!’ she shouted in her heart.

As if responding to her prayer, a blur of white rushed passed her.

CLANG!

Sound of metal clashing ran through the air. The newcomer swung what looked like a sword onto the woman. She swiftly dodged and blocked the sword with her lyre.

“What the- Who are you?” the woman screamed angrily at him.

The newcomer jumped several meters back, now standing in between Otome and the woman. Otome recognized that figure. It was the mysterious boy she saw last night!

“I am Regulus, son of Leo,” the boy proclaimed. “Now, who are _ you _?”

“Tsk. Leo’s brat, huh? What are you doing down here?” the woman sneered.

“I could ask the same thing to you. You distasteful being clearly doesn’t belong here in _ Geometria _,” Regulus replied in haughty tone. “And you still haven’t answered my question.”

“Heh, as if I would give out my name to a brat like you! You’re gonna die today anyway! I’ll suck your power dry and sent your dried out body back to your Daddy!” She threw her crystal ball into the air and she used her now-free hand to struck her lyre. The sound vibrated strongly through the air, crushing everything around her. The vibration wave became stronger every time she struck the lyre and eventually turned into a gust of wind that covered the area around her.

“Raise up! Lost Star!” She shout out, and soon after that a loud cry that was strong enough to shake the ground was heard. The wind pilar disappeared, revealing a two-story building tall monster with jet black body.

“RAAAGH!” The monster cried lowly as it charged onto Regulus.

“Kh!” Regulus was forced to defensive state and used his blade as a shield as he received a direct blow from the monster. He was pushed back several meters away from where he once had been, but nevertheless still able to stand on his own two feet.

“Let’s see how long you can endure that,” the woman laughed sadistically.

Otome could on sat down on the ground as she watched the one sided fight. The lyre sound, the monster’s cry, the villainess’ laugh... Her head hurt a lot from hearing them, it felt like her head had been split into two. It took her a while until she finally noticed there was another being beside her, desperately calling out to her.

“-y! Hey! You!”

She looked down when she finally noticed the small voice. She widened her eyes when she found a teddy bear was clutching to her skirt.

“You finally see me!” The teddy bear _ said _. Yes, it talked. It just talked. And not only that, it looked really alive and breathing too... Like a real yet somewhat disproportionate bear cub, with weird pastel yellow fur and star marks on its face. 

At this point Otome had to question her sanity. Perhaps her head was taking more damage than she had ever imagined. Perhaps it was the ultrasonic wave. Perhaps she had unknowingly hit her head onto something and had brain concussion.

Or perhaps she was still inside her nightmare.

“Hey! Listen to me!” _ It _ continued. “Get out of here as quickly as possible!!”

Get out of here? As in run away?

“I- I can’t!!” Otome shouted back as she clinged onto Niko’s unconscious body.

“But it dangerous here! You might die if you get caught up in their battle!” said the cub.

“No! Never!” She shook her head. “I’ll never leave my friend behind.”

“Liste-”

The cub’s word was cut short as the boy suddenly crashed onto the ground just right next to them.

“Regulus!” the cub shrieked.

“Polari..s.. Run...” The boy called Regulus ordered the cub as he coughed up some blood. The last attack seemed to have done a lot of damage to him. He tried to stand up but his legs were shaking and he was not able to maintain a solid stance.

“So weak. That’s not even worth leaving a finger. If _ Uranometria _ wants to pick a fight with _ us _, they better send a stronger warrior.” The woman said in mocking tone as she and the monster closed in.

“Take that girl with you and run! Hurry!” he shouted at Polaris again.

“No! I can’t leave you behind! We are _ partners _!” Polaris the cub cried back, showing the same stubbornness as Otome had done a while ago.

“I can’t defend the two of you at once!”

“Then I’ll fight with you!” Polaris said as a pair of wings appeared on his back and flew to Regulus’ side.

“Idiot-”

The woman did not miss the chance and swiftly launched an attack toward the talking-flying magical cub. This caused Regulus to abruptly jump in front of him and took the attack himself, just like what she had predicted. The boy’s body was sent flying again and crashed onto the wall behind Polaris and Otome.

“Re... Reg…” Shaken, Polaris started tearing up upon realizing what had just happened.

“Aah~ you brats are just stupid. If you can run, then you should’ve just run. There’s no point in sticking with friendship-what-so-ever. It’s bound to be broken sooner or later anyway.” The woman shook her head as she took another step closer toward the cub. “If I get it right, that Leo’s brat called you _ Polaris _, didn’t he? Polaris of the North Gate, huh… Your key might be useful to us someday. Captain might be pleased if I bring you back as a souvenir.”

“No!” Polaris quivered as it quickly flew back to Regulus’ side.

“Don’t... you dare… to touch him…” Regulus growled.

“Oh, how scary? What will you do to me? In that state? Huh?” she looked down at the boy and then forcefully grabbed Polaris.

“Polaris!” Regulus shouted out. He tried to reach out but the pain stopped him.

“That reminds me, I still haven’t asked you brats what you are doing here in a rural town of Geometria like this. What are the geezers at the Council up to?” She tightened her grip, causing Polaris to cry. “How about this… if you answer me like a good kid... I’ll set this little friend of yours free.”

“Like I’d tell you anything,” he glared at her. “Your words can’t be trusted.”

Her thin brows twitched in annoyance. “Oh, is that so? If that’s your answer then,” she threw Polaris aside and summoned her lyre back. “Finish him!” she ordered the monster to recommence its attacks.

“Reg!!!” Polaris shriek in horror as the monster rushed and bombarded Regulus with continuous punches.

The woman stroke her lyre in high speed and the monster’s power raised with each stroke.

“Ahahaha! DIE!” she cackled. “AHAHAHAHAHAHA-CK!!!”

Her maniacal laugh was abruptly ended because of a sharp pain in her stomach. She staggered back.

“YOU! WHAT THE HECK!” She choughed in pain. Someone just elbowed her, really hard, on the stomach. She looked at the girl who _ suddenly appeared _ in front of her bewilderment. “What- A human? How dare you!” 

Otome’s legs were shaking really hard. What had she just done? She herself did not understand. At one point she thought that she could not bear to watch anymore and her body just moved on its own.

‘This is bad,’ Otome thought as she saw how the scary lady looked very pissed. At her. 

Uh-oh. She was totally screwed.

“I don’t know who you are, but I won’t let you get away for this.” The older woman growled as she pointed at the younger girl.

“I… I...” Otome was unsure at first but she realized there was no use to cry over the spoiled milk and decided to just say I whatever that came into her mind. “I don’t know who you are either. And I’m not gonna forgive you for ruining my birthday either! And for ruining everyone’s morning in general! And for hurting Niko! And the cub! And him too!”

“Wha- What’s wrong with you? You freak!” The woman winced. “Disappear!” She raised her hand again, ready to strike another deadly melody on her lyre but… the lyre was gone!

“Where is it?” She looked around frantically, realizing her weapon was gone. She must have dropped it when the girl had attacked her earlier.

“I won’t let you use this anymore!” The voice came from above. There, Polaris was holding the golden lyre while trying to fly as high as he could.

“You little- agh!” The woman was slammed onto the ground. Regulus hold both of her hands and used his weight to pin her down.

“You’ve let your guard down.” Regulus said triumphantly.

She clicked her tongue. “You think you’ve won, huh? Keep dreaming on!” She snapped her fingers and the monster started moving again.

“Wha- How?” Polaris squeaked in surprise.

“Jokes on you, I don’t even need the lyre to control it!” The woman sneered as she sent the monster toward Otome.

“Watch out!” Regulus snapped. It took everything in him just to restrain the villainess, so all he could do was to desperately warn the girl.

The monster hurled toward Otome at terrifying speed. No, she could not get away from it. It was too fast.

She was not as though as that boy. She would probably get hurt severely just from one hit. Alas, she would probably die even. 

Death… On this particular day. On the day where she should have been celebrating her birth.

The monster was now just half a meter away from her. It raised its hand.

She shut her eyes, bracing for impact. And it became pitch black.

☆☆☆

It was that nightmare again.

She was falling into abyss.

She could not feel anything. No pain nor fear.

Did she die?

‘If I die now, will I get to see Mom again?’ that thought came in her mind.

‘But then Dad will be sad if I leave him alone.’

‘Niko will probably cry too. Oh, no. Niko! I almost forgot about her. What if she died too? Her family will be sad as well. If only I had stopped her back then… We would have been in class by now.’

They also had the promise to go to Niko’s family cafe in the afternoon. Niko said she would treat her a giant parfait as a birthday present. 

Her father too, said that they would go stargazing again on the weekend. What kind of face he would show if he learned that she died? No, imagining it was too heartbreaking.

She could not die here.

She had only turned fifteen. There were still so many things she wanted to do!

She could not give up yet!

As soon as she made up her mind, suddenly her surroundings was enveloped by light. The neverending abyss disappeared and she was now in the middle of sea of stars again, just like in the beginning of her dream, but this time the stars shone even more brightly.

If it was here, she could probably find _ it _.

She looked up. Right above her was the North Star. And then to the side of it was the Big Dipper. She made an imaginary arch down from the dipper to find Arcturus. From Arcturus she then continue the line down, and there it was! _ Her star! _

She reached out her hand toward that star and as if she had just plucked the star from the sky, she felt something in her grasp. She pulled her hand and slowly opened her palm: it was her star pendant. The hollow center of the pendant shone and then the light crystallized into a milky white gemstone. 

She clasped the pendant with both of her hands and pulled it to her chest. It radiated warmth that reminded her of her mother. It was a strange feeling but somehow she just knew that the pendant was finally _ complete _.

☆☆☆

A blinding light appeared right when the monster hit Otome. It was so dazzling that Regulus and the others had to avert their eyes.

“What’s this?” The woman cried out.

Regulus and Polaris were able to adjust their eyes to the light faster than the villainess. There they saw a _ different girl _ was now standing at the place where Otome had been. She had long silver hair in opposed to Otome’s dark gray hair. Half of her hair was held up in twin buns at the side of her head while the rest flew freely reaching her waist like silk threads. She donned a white dress decorated with golden rims and star-shaped accessories. On her chest was a single star brooch, with gimering milky white crystal on the center of it, that was held up by a light blue ribbon that matched her sheer sleeves.

She looked like a completely different person, yet they somehow knew… it was the same girl.

It was the girl who had refused to run away and left a friend behind.

It was the crazy girl who rammed into a villainess.

It was the girl with some loose screw in her head who had the guts to complain about her ruined birthday while she had been threatened with death.

The girl fluttered open her eyes. She instinctively smacked the monster’s hand that was right in front of her face and the monster just flew away.

She looked at her hands in bewilderment. Was that her power? Had she just sent the two-story tall monster flying with just a smack?

She felt... so powerful.

“What? Who are you?” The pink-haired yelled at the _ new girl _ as she finally regained her vision back. She kicked Regulus on the stomach and freed herself from the boy. Brushing off the dirt on her clothes, she once again ordered the monster to attack.

The monster got up and ran toward Otome. However, now that something within her _ had changed _, it did not look as fast as before. She was even able to realize that the monster was not actually all black like she had thought. She could see several speck of light forming a cracked, five pointed stars on its forehead. Was that its eye? She wondered as she jumped into the air dodging the attack.

“Amazing!” Polaris said in awe as she jumped so high that she easily surpassed his height.

“Oops.” Otome wobbled a bit as she landed on the roof of one of the stores. “So high...” She muttered as she looked down. Was it even humanly possible to jump _ that _ high? She probably had just broke the world’s record.

She did not have much time to think about trivial things though, as the monster had already stood on its own feet again and was ready to charge at her anytime soon. She had to find a way to disable the monster. Simply hitting it or throwing it away didn’t seem to do much damage.

She jumped down and landed next to Regulus.

“Um, Regulus_ -kun, _ is it? Do you know how to beat that monster?” she questioned.

Regulus twitched a bit at how she casually called his name, but he let it slide for once since they were in an emergency situation. He shook his head. “To be frank, I don’t know much about this creature. This is also my first time seeing it. However, I know this thing just doesn’t belong in _ this world _ and my gut is telling me it’ll be bad if we let it wreak havoc any further.”

She agreed with him. Who knew what would happen if it roam outside the shopping district. “Then what should we do? Is there anything _ I _can do to stop it?”

“If you are the real deal…” he paused, staring at her for a second before he continued, “If you’re the _ real deal _, you probably possess a purifying power like the legend says.”

“Eh? What legend-” 

Before she could ask more questions, he raised his sword and pointed it at the cracked star mark on the monster’s head. "That mark is most likely its weak point. Strike that creature with everything you got. Meanwhile I’ll keep the woman busy. It should be easier to attack if we keep them separated.”

“Okay.” Otome nodded. There were a lot of things she didn’t understand. About him, about their enemies, about herself…. But it was not the time to think about them. Right now she had to focus on the task before her.

She took a deep breath and glared at the monster. Ready? Set! Go! She dashed toward the gigantic creature. Regulus said the weakness was the star mark, so she had to be high enough to reach it without getting hit by it in the process.

The monster swings around its hand wildly, but Otome was fast enough to avoid all of them. She hopped from one wall to another, gaining height. Lastly she climbed onto a bell tower and dived right toward the monster’s face.

‘May this able to save everyone.’ she prayed as she faced the monster head on. She still didn’t know what a purifying power was, so for now she just prayed so that she could bring everything back to normal… so that Niko and the others might wake up again… so that the shopping district could return to how it had been…

She reached out her hand and just as her fingers touched the mark on the monster’s head, ribbon-like rays of light warped the monster into a large cocoon, then it shrunk into a ball and exploded like fireworks. The colorful sparks flew all around the shopping district; everything it touched was magically restored into its former shape. Some of the people that was lying on the ground started moving their fingers, showing signs of life.

“Niko! Thanks goddess!” She cried in relief as ran toward her friend. Her transformation undone itself and she turned back into the old, normal Hoshigawa Otome as she hugged her dear friend. Niko was still unconscious, but she was breathing normally, as if she was just sleeping soundly. 

“Tsk!” seeing that her minion had been defeated, the villainess jumped back and teleported away. “I’ll get you next time!” She declared before disappearing into thin air.

“Oh!” Polaris gasped as the lyre in his hands suddenly vanished too. “Sorry, I lost the instrument,” he said as he flew toward the Regulus.

“It’s fine. I figured she could have restored that lyre of hers whenever she wanted. She was just toying with us.” He gritted his teeth, looking dissatisfied.

“Reg…” Polaris sat on the boy’s shoulder and hugged his face. “I’m glad you’re okay though.”

“Yeah, but I was powerless.” Regulus said as he eyed the girl who was now sticking like glue to another girl who wore similar clothes. “We couldn’t have won without her.”

“Hey you,” he called out to Otome. “Just what on earth are you?”

Otome rested Niko to a nearby wall before she stood up and faced the boy. Ouch, she felt he was staring daggers at her.

“I’m… Hoshigawa Otome.” she started.

“And? What about that strange power of yours?” he pried.

“I- I’m just a regular middle schooler! For real! I don’t have any idea about what’s just happened earlier… or about that monster, or that scary woman with lyre.”

Regulus skeptically raised a brow. The girl didn’t look like she was lying, and for the most part she had really acted as if she had not had any idea how to fight. The villainess also had not showed any sign that they had known each other prior to their encounter today.

That woman, just what she was after?

Regulus frowned as he tried to recall the enemy they had faced earlier. 

He sighed and he scratched his head furiously. It was not part of his plan to return home _ so soon _, but it seemed that he had to postpone his mission for a while.

“Hoshigawa Otome, I want you to come with me to _ Uranometria _.”

☆Chapter 1 end☆

**Author's Note:**

> Constructive criticisms are always welcomed. I'm also looking for beta reader for this series if anyone interested.  
Thanks for reading & see you on next chapter☆


End file.
